The Roman Army

Who? What? Where? When? Why?

Roman Army

What? Why? Who?Where??When?

What was theRoman Army?

• Force behind one of the greatest empires of the ancient world

• Began 3,000 years ago with tribe called Latins

• Grew into city of Rome

• Romans built up a great army

• Conquered many lands around the Mediterranean Sea.

• World’s first superpower.

When was the Roman Army?

• Emperor Trajan ruled the Roman Empire from AD98 until AD117

• Emperor Hadrian ruled from AD117 until AD138

Why was there a Roman Army?

• fought to defend their land against invaders

• fought to take land from their enemies

• fought to extend their empire by conquering other lands, which they divided into area called provinces

• fought to strengthen and defend the frontiers of their empire

So far…

What? When? Why?

Where was the Roman Army?

Frontiers: (1) Rivers

• Rivers Rhine, Danube, Tigris and Euphrates

• Rivers were good frontiers. Why?

• Hadrian made the river Rhine the frontier from Bonn to the sea. He fortified the river.

• The river Danube was similarly

fortified from Regensburg to the Black Sea

• These fortifications stretched for a bout 450 kilometres.

Frontiers: (2) Sahara Desert

Frontiers: (3) Hadrian’s Wall• Solid barrier

• Intimidating reminder

• 118km (73 miles) long, 2.5 metres thick, 5 metres high

• Defended by 80 small mile-castles, 1.6 metres kilometres apart, and about 160 lookout turrets

• Stone-built & turf-built

• Ditch to the north

• Vallum to the south.

• Remained occupied until 410

• 16 auxiliary army forts built along the wall

Worksheet

Who were the Roman Army?• 107 BC Marius made the army a permanent

force

• Both infantry and cavalry

• 2 types of soldier: (1) Auxiliary. (2) Legionary.

• All legionaries were Roman citizens aged between 17 and 46 years old, and nearly all legionaries were infantry.

• Recruitment depended on how long a province had been under Roman rule.

• Legionary recruits usually came from the province which contained the legion’s base

• Auxiliaries never stationed in their homeland

• Normally enough volunteers to keep the army going

• Soldiers had to swear a solemn oath